River Report for June 8, 1999

Locals Scoring Despite Instant Summer

June 8, 1999 - Over the past few days we have entertained some sterling reports from local dry fly enthusiasts despite the summer-like weather conditions.

Erwin Markiewicz, while fishing the Willimantic River off Rt. 32, south of Stafford Springs, Connecticut, was able to hook and release about 15 trout in a little less than two hours of angling. The interesting thing about his success is that it occurred during mid-day hours while encountering not a single angler. Due to the absence of any mid-afternoon mayfly activity, he employed a variety of caddis dry fly patterns (14-16) to achieve his success. More proof that a skated or free floating caddis dry can be deadly during early June when most mayfly hatches generally occur at dusk or after sundown.

To locate the river drive south on Rt. 86 and exit onto Rt. 32. The river parallels this road and offers many opportunities to achieve access without too many difficulties while driving north or south along Rt. 32.

Felix Stolulonis, is beginning to make his annual pilgrimages to Lawrence Brook in Royalston and is achieving success with brook and brown trout using a variety of mayfly imitations, with his patented Red Quill the number one producer. While our central Mass Hendrickson/Red Quill hatch is just a distant memory, the pattern itself remains very effective throughout the year because of it’s generic mayfly appearance. Instead of using a traditional brown hackle stem for the body, Felix uses an Isonychia (reddish brown) colored dubbing and clips the blue dun hackle flush with the hook point allowing the fly to ride flush in the water. When all else has failed, this pattern has served him well over the years and is responsible for taking many a finicky surface feeder.

He also had this watershed virtually to himself, encountering only one other angler making his departure just as he arrived. If your interested in exploring Lawrence Brook, take Rt. 68 north to Royalston center where NE Fitzwilliams Rd. intersects. The brook crosses this road about a double-haul north of the center of town.

The Thomas Basin section of the Quinapoxet just below the pumping station in Oakdale has been particularly kind to Peter Perrine. On one recent mid-week visit, Peter, who is also known as the "Sage of the Wachusett" because of his badger like persistence, was able to entice rainbows to 18", browns to 16" and a landlocked salmon of 20". The MDC continues to pump cooler water into the system from the Quabbin creating great habitat despite the recent heat wave. He has been consistently taking fish throughout the spring using his deadly muddler pattern fished just below the surface on a floating line. If it’s dry fly action that wets you whistle, an intense black caddis hatch (16-18) is occurring just before nightfall bringing a flurry of surface activity.

Up north, Phil Berkeley has been haunting his favorite wild brook trout lair, Alder Stream, a tributary of the Dead River located northwest of Eustis, Maine. Phil is reporting sensational fishing with near ideal water conditions and plenty of willing combatants. Local water conditions what they are, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to start venturing to our favorite bailiwicks to the north.

It’s a similar report being issued by dry fly aficionado, Charlie Peters, after returning from a recent pilgrimage to the Sugar River near Claremont, New Hampshire. Although I do plead ignorance to any knowledge of the watershed, the fishery is sustained by frequent stockings of all trout species and maintains a fly fishing only section that is rapidly becoming quite popular. The tight-lipped Mr. Peter’s was not offering mounds of information but the twinkle in his eye and the smirk on his otherwise stoic face leads me to believe he conquered his usual share of salmonoids.

The recent heat has only added to the problems facing local anglers in pursuit of cold water species. We are now facing August conditions in many watersheds and are in dire need of substantial rainfall. The next few weeks will determine the plight of central New England fly fishermen that enjoy extending the season through the "dog days" of summer. We have many reports of local rivers already reaching dangerously high mid-day water temperatures, and, when combined with our low water table, is suffocating the rivers and streams of oxygen necessary in sustaining a viable fishery throughout the summer.

On the book front, keep an eye out for the new title, "Trout Streams of Southern New England…" by Tom Fuller due out late summer-early fall. The reviews we have read have been outstanding and this book should provide much needed current information regarding our local inland fisheries. We will stock copies as soon as it becomes available.

Good fishing and safe wading,